104 killed in Sabarimala stampede, 50 injured

VANDIPERIYAR, KERALA: At least 104 Sabarimala devotees were killed and over 40 injured in a stampede when a jeep crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala's Idukki district, in the worst tragedy to strike the worshippers of the famed shrine in a decade.

Kerala home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the toll in the stampede that took place last night has climbed to 104.

"The pilgrims were coming to catch a bus when there was a stampede at Pulmedu. This resulted in the death of 104 people, while more than 40 were injured," Balakrishnan, who is in Kolkata for the CPI(M) politburo meeting, told reporters.

Out of the dead, only 54 have been identified so far and they belong to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said.

"The inquest and post-mortem will be done today of the identified bodies," the minister said.

State DGP Jacob Punnoose said over 50 bodies have been identified so far. They are mostly from the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said. Eighteen of the dead hailed from Tamil Nadu, 12 from Karnataka and two each from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the death of the pilgrims.

Singh sanctioned a relief of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in the stampede and Rs 50,000 to those injured from the Prime Minister's relief fund.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi also expresses her deep anguish and shock over the tragedy in Sabarimala.

Most of the victims who perished were from Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. They were returning home through the forest route after the Makarajyoti darshan, considered a celestial phenomenon, at the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa.

The tragedy occurred at Pulmedu in Vandiperiyar when a jeep carrying pilgrims ploughed into a crowd and overturned, killing some on the spot and triggering the stampede, rescuers said.

Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan, who has called an emergency meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss rescue operations, said the Prime Minister has assured the state all help.

"The Kerala government has decided to compensate all those who lost their families. We have also set up a special team and the collector is monitoring rescue operations in Sabarimala. A probe will also be constituted to find out the cause of the incident," he said.

The state government has also declared a three-day mourning.

Kerala finance minister T M Thomas Issac said a crime branch probe would be conducted to ascertain the exact cause of the tragedy.

Aneesh, one of the early rescuers to reach the spot, said the mishap was caused by the jeep which ran into the crowd and turned turtle.

While some people who got trapped under the jeep died, it also set off a wave of panic, triggering a stampede as thousands of pilgrims had converged at Pulmedu area, used mostly by devotees from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for returning home after darshan, he said.

I have never seen such a huge crowd at Pulmedu in my life. The flow of pilgrims returning was much more than anybody's expectations", Aneesh, who hails from the area, said.

The two-month long pilgrimage which began in mid-November was, by and large, incident-free till last night.

Over 30 million devotees had visited the shrine during the season.

Ten years ago, a stampede at Pampa on way to the hill shrine killed 50 people on the occasion of Makar Jyoti.

Defence minister A K Antony has offered the Kerala government all help from defence forces for rescue operations.

A special team of the National Disaster Response Force is at the spot. A helpline number - 04869222049 - has been set up to help the families of the victims.